Trump Trashes German-Russian Pipeline Deal

At a NATO meeting on Wednesday, President Trump criticized Germany’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline deal with Russia, blasting the central European country for sending billions of dollars to a NATO adversary.

“I think it’s very sad when Germany makes a massive oil and gas deal with Russia,” Trump said to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. “You’re supposed to be guarding against Russia, and Germany goes out and pays billions and billions of dollars a year to Russia.”

The German government, under Chancellor Angela Merkel, approved the construction of Nord Stream 2 in March, allowing Russia to bypass Eastern European countries and deliver gas straight to Germany.

The president railed against the pipeline deal for several minutes, criticizing our European allies for sending billions of dollars to Moscow. Trump worried that Russia supplying a significant percentage of European energy would hamper the continent’s ability to respond to Russian aggression.

“Germany is totally controlled by Russia because they will be getting [anywhere] from 60 to 70 percent of their energy from Russia and the new pipeline,” he said. “Germany is a captive of Russia.”

The president also blasted Germans for not meeting their 2 percent NATO defense spending obligations, an issue he continually raises.

Merkel responded to his comments, claiming that Germany is “independent” of Russia and citing her time living under Communist rule. “I have experienced myself how a part of Germany was controlled by the Soviet Union,” she said. “I’m very glad that today we are united in freedom … because of that we can say that we can make our independent policies and make independent decisions.”